Price increase news

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

This is nothing to do with tariffs. This is GW's annual price rise. Usually it tends to be in June. 

 

Given how they still continually sell out of most stuff I can't blame them. This isn't GW being malicious, it's just capitalism. 

[ZeroWolf]

5 minutes ago, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

This is nothing to do with tariffs. This is GW's annual price rise. Usually it tends to be in June. 

 

Given how they still continually sell out of most stuff I can't blame them. This isn't GW being malicious, it's just capitalism. 

It used to be even earlier, about end of February/ beginning of march time

[phandaal]

17 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

As N1SB highlights above

 

Since you read part of his post, read the rest of it as well. What he said was that GW probably did find their efficiencies, or most of them, and we got the price rise anyway. That is what Games Workshop does: they raise prices because people buy things at higher prices. There is nothing conspiratorial or defamatory about knowing that. It is a normal and boring thing that happens in business.

 

13 minutes ago, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

This is nothing to do with tariffs. This is GW's annual price rise. Usually it tends to be in June. 

 

Given how they still continually sell out of most stuff I can't blame them. This isn't GW being malicious, it's just capitalism. 

 

Yeah it is not complicated, but the different reasons we come up with every year are entertaining at least. Maybe next year we can blame it on the 3I/Atlas flyby or chemtrails or something. 

[crimsondave]

They’ve never been shy about raising prices before.  Maybe they just decided it was time.  The financial report that just came out was extremely impressive.  Not to mention that extremely expensive Kill Team box sold out in seconds most places.

Edited September 1 by Gillyfish
Edited out quote with political content and removed commentary on the quote.

[SvenIronhand]

Well, that sucks.

[Mogger351]

27 minutes ago, phandaal said:

 

Since you read part of his post, read the rest of it as well. What he said was that GW probably did find their efficiencies, or most of them, and we got the price rise anyway. That is what Games Workshop does: they raise prices because people buy things at higher prices. There is nothing conspiratorial or defamatory about knowing that. It is a normal and boring thing that happens in business.

 

 

Yeah it is not complicated, but the different reasons we come up with every year are entertaining at least. Maybe next year we can blame it on the 3I/Atlas flyby or chemtrails or something. 

 

 

I mean I did, this was the conclusion:

 

Quote

In conclusion, I thought GW's statement about finding inefficiencies to cover the extra Tariffs cost WAS their intention, but clearly aspirational rather than real. It was just too big a difference. And it's also absolutely possible that GW -did- find new efficiencies, and even counting those, you still got this price increase (it'd be even higher without them).

 

Agreeing which is more or less in the same ball park as what I was saying. They can write that they'll cover it with efficiencies but the scale makes it unlikely. If this would have been a 2 or 3% increase average without the tarrifs, you'd never know and if they made it larger accordingly, they've also not betrayed the intent of their report.

 

Either way, its nice to see people arguing that GW are the honest good guys for a change.

[Dark Shepherd]

8 hours ago, N1SB said:

Our Brothers saying it is part of Tariffs is right.  GW had announced it in the annual report under Tariffs:

 

 

Our Brothers saying it is totally unfair is also right, but it's not GW making the rules.  Tariffs are pre-paid.

 

As soon as the Tariffed goods arrive in that country's shore, they have to pay there and then.  If you've lived in a port city, there's a guy with this clipboard with all the different codes standing at the docks, like a Death Guard Tallyman.  So all worldwide customers are subsidising the ones in the Tariffing country until they actually buy it.

 

And if customers in the Tariffing country think that box of Marines is too expensive now, and it's unsold...the rest of us around the world still pays for that Tariff.  GW announcing it now is they already decided roughly how much they're shipping to the Tariffing country.  So in addition to the increased prices, expect shortages, because neither GW nor any Distributor in the Tariffing country wants to ship in too much...because they got to pay the Tariffs upfront, and if it's unsold...well...

 

(Rules As Written accounting-wise Tariffs are part of Cost of Goods Sold, which is used to determine prices.  It's not GW, it's not even greedflation.)

 

You can understand how it all works, and still be angry.  I know I am.  In fact, knowing makes me even angrier.  I've got these MBA-installed Butcher's Nails right now.  Even as I'm trying to articulate it now, I'm furious, I'm like Angron knowing full-well what's happening to him and he still wants to see the galaxy burn, even more so.

 

But don't direct your anger at each other, your Brothers are not your enemy.  The enemy is the Tariffs.

 

We at B&C rightly leave politics alone, GW is also leaving politics alone.  But politics won't leave us alone.

Death Guard Tallyman v Frank Sobotka in the Port of Baltimore is the TV show the world needs right now

[Doghouse]

9 hours ago, Joe said:

I wouldn't be so glad about investing in a printer, particularly for those based in the UK. With environmental mandates really starting to kick in from 2026 onwards you'll start to see the cost of resin shoot up in particular. It's already been trending up as is.

 

For me at the moment it's fine, I can currently get two 8k 1000g bottles for about the same as a box of Primaris marines currently and even if it went up to £40 a bottle I could still make maybe four times the number of models I'd get from a GW box of models. I personally prefer the freedom and choice it gives me over modern GW minis.

[Lord_Ikka]

To be fair to GW, they are not doing as big of a price hike as some other producers are (example - CGL is going up 10% for their Battletech stuff, though their models are produced in China), so they could have gone much higher. Not happy about it, but not surprised at all given all the issues with international trade and the UK's local power situation. 

[SalamandersBro]

I guess as long as we keep buying stuff at these prices, they will continue to raise them. 

 

Question to someone who reads the financial reports.  

Do they say how much products they sell, or is it just dollar amounts? 

I'm always interested in how much less and/or more is sold after the price hikes.

More money can be earned when they raise prices, but are they selling less? What's the magic number.

[N1SB]

On 9/1/2025 at 9:15 PM, SalamandersBro said:

I guess as long as we keep buying stuff at these prices, they will continue to raise them. 

 

Question to someone who reads the financial reports.  

Do they say how much products they sell, or is it just dollar amounts? 

I'm always interested in how much less and/or more is sold after the price hikes.

More money can be earned when they raise prices, but are they selling less? What's the magic number.

 

I understand both the question and the question behind the question, and they're both good.  1 image to explain it all:

 

 

GW shows dollar amounts, but that is enough for someone like me.  We'll look at the Decade of Decline from 2007 to 2016 mainly.

 

GW raised prices to keep up with inflation (Tariffs are on top of that now).  Economists' rule of thumb, 3%.  Prices go up gradually.

 

But from 2007 to 2016, it's flat.  Prices still going up on that inflation average 3% a year...so it means sales were going down 3%.

 

In other words, during that era, it's exactly as you think, the classic demand curve playing out.  Price increases, demand drops.

 

Even when Age of Sigmar came out, flat.  It was missing things like points value.  Its 1st General's Handbook fixed that, line goes up.

 

Then 40k 8th ed came out and it went up 40%, at that point GW more than caught up with a decade's worth of price increases.

 

And ever since then, it's been going up and up, the hype is not fabricated, Warhammer HAS been increasing in popularity.

 

 

+++ The Magic Number +++

 

 

Seventy.  The Magic Number is 70% Core Gross Margin, what other companies just call Gross Profit Margin.

 

What this means: you buy something, say, a Combat Patrol costing US$100, it cost GW $30, $70 is profit.

 

That means THOSE miniatures cost $30 with the labour, the energy costs, etc.  NOT the Warhammer Store's rent.

 

GW does not increase prices willy-nilly because they can get away with it.  GW follows this formula based on its costs.

 

GW 1st finds every price reduction on their end.  Then when they cut until they can cut no more, they increase prices.

 

That 70% is high!  It's at a level of Tech Giants and, oddly, LEGOs.  But GW doesn't just increase prices for the sake of it.

 

And you're right to ask.  Here's why.  Tariffs are just part of this Core Gross (Profit) Margin formula.  That's why I'm sure.

 

 

+++++

 

 

Brothers, my fellow Veterans of the Long War, you know how I've been saying about this 70% formula?  It's that reason I'm saying Tariffs are part of it.  I always said GW followed this code of Honour Among Thieves, Tariffs are part of this same thing that we've come to understand.  That's why I say it.  And I understand your incredulity because EVEN I had forgotten it's a thing, then I was like "oooh...shucks."

 

Edit - you guys are also saying it's other stuff, like the regular annual price increases.  Yes, yes yes yes yes yes you're absolutely right, it's those TOO, and Tariffs on top.  It's the regular price increases, because GW's own input costs are increasing, inflation happens to everyone, then Tariffs as well.  Not an IF THEN, but an AND statement.  It all goes into the calculation, and it sucks.

Edited September 2 by N1SB

[Orange Knight]

I never used to care about the annual price hikes... then my wife and I decided to have kids, and she stayed off work.

 

Now I view the costs differently lol

[appiah4]

Heh.  Hard "nope" from me GW.  I ain't paying your US tariffs.

 

  

On 8/31/2025 at 4:08 PM, Joe said:

I wouldn't be so glad about investing in a printer, particularly for those based in the UK. With environmental mandates really starting to kick in from 2026 onwards you'll start to see the cost of resin shoot up in particular. It's already been trending up as is.

 

Yeah.. No.  Resin will have to cost around 10x what it does now before GW figures can be even remotely in the same cost ballpark.  I argued 3D printing is here to stay and take over 5 years ago and got laughed at.  Here we are, and half the people around me have 3D printed 40K armies already.  People have stopped using 40K rules to game with a long time ago.  The 40K games I see around me are either OPR GD:F or Xenos Rampant.  40K is in a very, very :cuss:ty place.  Feel free to cite me sales figures and claim it is healthier than ever.  This is the beginning of the death spiral that nearly broke Wizards when their game started to get outcompeted by cheaper and better alternatives.

Edited September 2 by appiah4

[Robbienw]

Line will still continue to go up.

[Osteoclast]

No excuse not to work on the piles of shame now 

[INKS]

I think I am out of the loop here now. When did GW mention US Tariffs in the talk for the price increase? 4-5% is their normal increase, without tariffs. 

[Karhedron]

2 hours ago, appiah4 said:

This is the beginning of the death spiral that nearly broke Wizards when their game started to get outcompeted by cheaper and better alternatives.

 

People have been saying this for 20 years and it still hasn't happened. I will believe it when I see it.

[Scribe]

2 hours ago, appiah4 said:

This is the beginning of the death spiral that nearly broke Wizards when their game started to get outcompeted by cheaper and better alternatives.

 

Magic is STILL very much alive. So if thats a death spiral, can I have some?

[N1SB]

3 hours ago, INKS said:

I think I am out of the loop here now. When did GW mention US Tariffs in the talk for the price increase? 4-5% is their normal increase, without tariffs. 

 

The opposite, but yes!  They talked about price increases in their Tariff section.  Brother Skylar Boodie pointed it out:

 

 

I saw this really goofy thing GW did invent, like they give this Award to their top executives...but at least it gives me this handy dandy chart:

 

 

Brother Inks, you've heard me go on about that 70% Core Gross Margin goal for years now.  Measured in June, like June 2025.  If it's below 70%, usually means GW increases prices.  When it's about 70%, GW leaves it alone, wait until its own costs catches up before they do another price update (because it's unpopular).  It kinda explains how we went a whole year without a price update; GW followed its own rules.

 

(In fact, that dip in 2022/23 was when we were talking about electricity prices iirc.  We were talking about melting plastic, etc.)

 

It's at 69.5%.  That was just in June.  They do forecast costs anticipating their own increased costs, and Tariffs are part of that cost.

 

 

+++ Just giving a check on the size of the Tariffs +++

 

I do this in the spirit of army list building.  You like a unit, the model, the special rules...UNTIL you try to fit it into your list.  And we'll keep it back of napkins maths:

 

• GW Total Revenue: £500+ million
• GW North American Revenue: ~40%, it's about £200+ million
• GW Tariffing Country Revenue: let's reservedly say half that, £100+ million
• Tariffs at 10%: £10+ million

 

That doesn't sound like a lot, £10+ million, then I remembered how much Factory 4 would cost:

 

 

A year's worth of Tariffs costs more than Factory 4.  At some point, GW is wondering, "Why not build it in the Tariffing Country?"

 

That's probably the political purpose of Tariffs of which I will not discuss in Imperial Compliance to B&C rules, but there is a reason; all the plastic mould injection machines, even GW's moulds themselves, I think are supposed to be Tariffed.  The equipment for any factory you'd raise there are probably imports.  But it's a valid question.

Edited September 2 by N1SB

[SvenIronhand]

3 hours ago, appiah4 said:

The 40K games I see around me are either OPR GD:F or Xenos Rampant.  40K is in a very, very :cuss:ty place.  Feel free to cite me sales figures and claim it is healthier than ever.  This is the beginning of the death spiral that nearly broke Wizards when their game started to get outcompeted by cheaper and better alternatives.

Have you considered:

A.) Your personal experience is not universal and different scenes might have different levels of interest in particular games?

B.) That 3D printing has plenty of hoops to jump through for Bill Consumer?

[Karhedron]

39 minutes ago, SvenIronhand said:

B.) That 3D printing has plenty of hoops to jump through for Bill Consumer?

 

I have recently tried some 3D printed models. These were professionally printed resin minis so I assume they are fairly close to state of the art. They are nice in providing options that are not available in mainstream models (Veteran Heavy Intercessors in this case) but they do have some drawbacks:

1. They are not cheap to buy. If you just print torsos then you need all the arms, backpacks, gubbins etc. You can probably print everything but that will take more time and you still have to pay for the resin.
2. They are less detailed than GW models and the detail present is "softer" than GW plastics. For this reason I would only use them to make models that GW don't do. I would not 3D print units that GW provide "out of the box".

So even though I have dabbled successfully with 3D prints, they will remain a niche and I don't plan to use any more. My Veteran Heavy Ints do look quite nice though. 

 

[phandaal]

2 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

My Veteran Heavy Ints do look quite nice though. 

 

 

These are great!

[Mogger351]

1 hour ago, N1SB said:

 

The opposite, but yes!  They talked about price increases in their Tariff section.  Brother Skylar Boodie pointed it out:

 

 

I saw this really goofy thing GW did invent, like they give this Award to their top executives...but at least it gives me this handy dandy chart:

 

 

Brother Inks, you've heard me go on about that 70% Core Gross Margin goal for years now.  Measured in June, like June 2025.  If it's below 70%, usually means GW increases prices.  When it's about 70%, GW leaves it alone, wait until its own costs catches up before they do another price update (because it's unpopular).  It kinda explains how we went a whole year without a price update; GW followed its own rules.

 

(In fact, that dip in 2022/23 was when we were talking about electricity prices iirc.  We were talking about melting plastic, etc.)

 

It's at 69.5%.  That was just in June.  They do forecast costs anticipating their own increased costs, and Tariffs are part of that cost.

 

 

+++ Just giving a check on the size of the Tariffs +++

 

I do this in the spirit of army list building.  You like a unit, the model, the special rules...UNTIL you try to fit it into your list.  And we'll keep it back of napkins maths:

 

• GW Total Revenue: £500+ million
• GW North American Revenue: ~40%, it's about £200+ million
• GW Tariffing Country Revenue: let's reservedly say half that, £100+ million
• Tariffs at 10%: £10+ million

 

That doesn't sound like a lot, £10+ million, then I remembered how much Factory 4 would cost:

 

 

A year's worth of Tariffs costs more than Factory 4.  At some point, GW is wondering, "Why not build it in the Tariffing Country?"

 

That's probably the political purpose of Tariffs of which I will not discuss in Imperial Compliance to B&C rules, but there is a reason; all the plastic mould injection machines, even GW's moulds themselves, I think are supposed to be Tariffed.  The equipment for any factory you'd raise there are probably imports.  But it's a valid question.

Thank you for this, I'm sure the frater who condescendingly told me it's just their regular annual price rises and unrelated to tarrifs will be along shortly to apologise 

[Joe]

37 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

Thank you for this, I'm sure the frater who condescendingly told me it's just their regular annual price rises and unrelated to tarrifs will be along shortly to apologise 

 

I've yet to meet one that'd willingly uninstall HighHorse.exe. 

[Mogger351]

First look at the new prices:

 

https://www.darksphere.co.uk/gwrise25.php?utm_source=Dark+Sphere+Newsletters&utm_campaign=a845719279-160806_DeathMasque_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e5739860a2-a845719279-83622997